Through the actions of Pap Cheyassin Secka in rejecting the Commission of
Inquiry report, Yaya has renewed his declaration of war to the Gambian
people. Gambians should take him on. Even someone as despicable as Secka
knows that he cannot defend the declarations he made to the press the other
day. Reports indicate that he ran out of the room after giving a prepared
speech. The truth is, Secka and Yaya cannot look decent Gambians in the eye
and tell them that no one is going to be punished for the massacre of our
children on April 10 and 11. This is simply unacceptable.

I understand Yaya went to parliament and told his cohorts that he is going
to consult with his cabinet before releasing the report. Well, we all know
that Yaya is surrounded by rubber-stamps. People that when Yaya say 'jump',
the only thing they would say is 'how high'. This is already a done deal. If
I get the time-line right, Yaya spoke to parliament on Thursday and Secka
gave his press release on Friday. So the cabinet were able to study this
report in less than a day and endorse Yaya's decision to reject the findings
of the commission that implicate his security forces.

Cabinet members that sign on to this despicable decision will be held
accountable for it when we get rid of Yaya. Opposition members of parliament
should be prepared to tackle Secka if and when he comes to parliament to
talk about Yaya's decision not to prosecute a single person for the heinous
massacre of our children. They should not allow Secka to run away from them
like the coward ran away from the press. We should fight these vermin in
every arena.

But the major fight should be in the streets of Banjul. If children were
brave enough to put their lives on the line because of the unsolved murder
of one of them and the rape of another, opposition leaders back home should
be prepared to mobilize their bases and get rid of Yaya forthwith. The
leaders that ask us to give this callous government the benefit of the
doubt, and wait for the commission's report, should now come out and answer
to Yaya's declaration of war.

The reasons forwarded by Secka for rejecting the commission's report are
illogical. I am sure that when we see the report, we will also realize that
we have our own reasons to reject it as well. I am sure the report tried
very hard not to implicate Yaya and his cohorts. What the report could not
do (and what angered Yaya and Secka) is, the report could not blame anyone
else for pulling a trigger. That is Yaya's major problem. They tried selling
us the ridiculous notion that criminals from the Serrekunda Police station
somehow stole guns from the station and instead of shooting the police that
locked them up, went and shot the children that freed them. When they
realize that that story would not fly (thanks to Ebou Colly), they talked
about rubber bullets and shooters coming from the sky.

There is no escape here. The bottom line is, the children were massacred
with life ammunition from Yaya's security forces. No one can escape from
that truth. Yaya and Secka can fire all the judges in the country if they
want. They can never erase what happened on April 10 and 11.

Secka also clarified for me something else that was puzzling me the past few
months. That is, the way his chambers was handling the Ebrima Barry case.
Just last week I lamented about the incompetent way the prosecutor was
handling the case by calling witnesses that ended up sabotaging his case.
Now I understand why. Did people realize how Secka was trying to justify the
torture and murder of Ebrima Barry and the way the AG chambers handled that
case? Secka is doing that for political reasons. Yaya and Secka want the
Ebrima Barry case to collapse. That way, they can convince gullible Gambians
that the student demonstration was unjustified. This is despicable. I sensed
that something stunk in the handling of the Ebrima Barry case. That is why I
tried very hard to show people that the case is a winnable for AG chambers.
I even went out of character to give them good points that will help them
win the case. I still believe that the judge can deliver victory to the
prosecution and vindicate Ebrima Barry's family and the students that lost
their lives fighting for Barry. But if the prosecution fails in the Barry
case, people will now understand why the AG wants the case to collapse.

There is no doubt in the minds of decent Gambians that the students felt
genuinely aggrieved by the handling of the Ebrima Barry case and the rape of
a school girl. That is the reason why there was a demonstration. How does
Yaya and Secka expect the commission to ascribe to the students political
motives when there was no credible evidence to suggest that the students
were motivated by politics?

Secka's insinuation that the students were not interested in dialog was also
a blatant lie. The students did all they could to talk to government
officials and have a legally sanctioned demonstration. It is the government
that was not interested in dialog. When Sarjo Jallow stopped to speak to the
students, was he attacked? NO. Other government ministers also spoke to the
students and not a single piece of stone was thrown at them. Not a single
casualty is reported on the side of the government forces. Hell broke lose
when Yaya's security forces unleashed brute force on the children.

Secka is complaining about the commission not investigating the students to
determine what motivated them. But the commission did investigate that.
Secka himself investigated that and ordered the arrest and trial of some
students. The truth of the matter is, Secka cannot defend the silly notion
that the students were the 'cause' of the massacre. His officials cannot
even the convince a bogus commission of inquiry of this ridiculous story.
Secka tried convincing the courts when he arrested the students. The courts
would not buy it either. It is only people like Yaya and Secka, that can
convince themselves with such nonsense.

Besides, even if the commission did not report about the students' motives,
does that erase the fact that Yaya's security forces massacred the students?
It is absurd to reject the recommendation to charge police officers because
there were no findings regarding the motives of the students. It does not
add up. The students did not threaten the lives of any Gambians. How can a
three year old be a threat to the lives of Yaya's armed forces or Gamtel
installations? It is despicable to hear Secka whine about damage to property
when the man would not even have the decency to acknowledge the families
that lost their children and the families still watching their children
suffering on hospital beds from gun shot wounds.

While Secka was also advocating for the commission to look into what
motivated the students, I wonder why he did not advocate for the commission
to look into what motivated the police. This is why I said that when we see
the full report, we will also reject it. The report will not tell us what is
self-evident to all Gambians; i.e. the report will not say that Yaya ordered
the massacre. That finding, is the bottom line for us. They cannot run away
from that.

So, we now know that all the promises from Secka about the appointment of an
independent prosecutor are all lies. These people are not interested in
solving this heinous crime. This is the ultimate crime. They murder our
children and then refuse to bring the murderers to justice.

Prominent diplomats and opposition leaders in the country that went on
record and stated their confidence in Yaya and his handling of the massacre
investigation, should now come out and register their opinions again. People
that jump to mind are the British High Commissioner and Halifa Sallah. The
press should challenge these leaders to register their assessment of the
despicable report Secka gave to the press on Friday. So long as this crime
remains unsolved, Yaya forfeits his right to live in peace.

We should not sit by while the murderers of our children roam the streets of
Banjul scot-free.
KB



>From: Dampha Kebba <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: GOVERNMENT REJECTS COMMISSION'S AND CORONER'S REPORT
>Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 17:00:15 -0500
>
>This is one of the darkest days in Gambian history. I just perused Secka's
>despicable comments and would be responding to him more appropriately over
>the weekend.
>
>I cannot believe that the government has decided not to charge a single
>person for the murder of our children in broad daylight. To add insult to
>injury, Secka was whining about property destruction. This is
>incomprehensible.
>
>So now we know why Chief Justice Lartey and Coroner Ousman Jammeh were
>fired. Secka is leading Yaya to the gallows, as I said before. Watch this
>space as I debunk the mumbo jumbo Secka was engaged in. You cannot get a
>more perverse legal reasoning.
>
>Yaya and his cohorts have just crossed another line. They will live to
>regret it.
>KB
>
>
>
>>From: Pasamba Jow <[log in to unmask]>
>>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
>><[log in to unmask]>
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>Subject: GOVERNMENT REJECTS COMMISSION'S AND CORONER'S REPORT
>>Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 21:22:40 -0000
>>
>
>_________________________________________________________________
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